Infantino meets with Caricom SG, Guyana’s President

By Romario Samaroo

After a few handshakes with the members of the Guyana Football Federation (GFF) staff and other persons at the FIFA Forward project site, Providence, FIFA President Gianni Infantino was rushed to Camp Base Ayanganna, where he met with President David Granger before meeting with Caricom stakeholders, including Secretary General Irwin LaRocque on Tuesday.

Ambassador LaRocque informed the FIFA President that sports persons were among the original categories under the free movement of skills regime of the Caricom Single Market and Economy (CSME). The Secretary General said that sport was valuable as a social investment, which could assist in channelling the youth towards positive endeavours and as a means of instilling discipline. It could also provide a career path, the Secretary General added.
Ambassador LaRocque mentioned that Caricom was in the midst of preparing a Human Resource Development Strategy and sport was an important element given the holistic nature of the development process.
Both Caricom and FIFA are undergoing reform, and Infantino emphasised his focus on transparency and good governance. He said the primary responsibility of FIFA was the development of football all over the world. He noted that of the US$1.4 billion invested in projects worldwide by his organisation, the Caribbean benefited from approximately US$60 million in the past year.
Speaking on his meeting with the Caricom Secretary General, Infantino informed the public that their objective was to work with the Governments in the whole Caribbean to bring football forward, as GFF President Wayne Forde pointed out that the initiative was for FIFA, GFF and the Governments of the Caribbean to work together.
Infantino said, “FIFA, in the past, did not focus on football as it should have been, but now we are focused on the football and we are very happy with the progress.”
Forde added that it was down to the level of the GFF that they were trying to build something that was corruption-free and transparent.
Infantino was accompanied by a delegation of six persons, including Véron Mosengo-Omba, FIFA Director of Member Associations and Development for Africa and the Caribbean; Mattias Grafstrom, FIFA Advisor to the President; Pablo Aimar; and Jasmin Frei, FIFA’s Office Manager, Executive Office of the President.